Kathlyn Buo
January 2023
Kathlyn
Buo
,
RN
PACU
Avant Healthcare Professionals
Corpus Christi
,
TX
United States

 

 

 

Her actions allowed me to determine that the patient had an internal hemorrhage. She did an excellent job of preparing the patient to go back to the operating room.
A patient of mine who has cirrhosis underwent the repair of an incarcerated right inguinal hernia. The patient became mildly hypotensive in recovery. Given the patient's lack tachycardia or other concerning physical findings and his relatively small body habitus, this could have easily been assumed to be due to the effects of anesthesia and pain medication. A call from the patient's nurse, Cath, would have been appropriate, but she did something better. Nurse Cath found me as I was walking out of the operating room at the end of my last procedure, explained her concerns about the patient to me, and then led me directly to the patient's bedside. I was not immediately highly concerned, but enough so to order some tests, which she promptly carried out and reported back to me in a timely fashion. Her actions allowed me to determine that the patient had an internal hemorrhage. She did an excellent job of preparing the patient to go back to the operating room. Cath left me confident that I could delegate orders to her and that they would be done quickly and properly so that I could spend my time explaining the patient's situation to his family and coordinating care with anesthesia. Thanks to Cath, the patient's problem was addressed promptly and with a good outcome for the patient.